Lovely Little Things in Pretty Beach : A magical feel-good romance book to escape with in summer 2021.

by Polly Babbington

‘Yes. So let me explain. We’ve had one of our receptionists take a position over in Spain to work in one of our hotels in Barcelona, and I thought that you might be better suited to the front desk vacancy we have rather than, well, rather than the housekeeping job Willow has lined up for you.’

  Lulu clenched her right fist, held it up in the air, squeezed her eyes shut and screwed up her face before she answered, ‘Yes, yes, that does sound a bit more suitable.’

  ‘Yep. I thought as much. I know it’s very short notice, but would you be able to come in for an interview this afternoon? Only, Atlanta is here for the rest of the day and then she is off to London until the end of next week and we would like to get it sorted out as soon as possible if we can. She’s not down here very often and she has to approve all front of house staff personally.’

  Lulu looked down at the grass stains on her jeans, her filthy wellies, and the mud all over her hands.

  ‘I certainly can come in this afternoon. What time were you thinking?’

  ‘Three would work for us. Does that suit you at all?’ Helen asked.

  ‘Absolutely. That would be just right for me. Thank you.’

  ‘Okay. Just come into the main hotel lobby and ask for me and the receptionist will come and get me. I’ll see you then. Looking forward to it.’

  Lulu walked across the bare floorboards in the bathroom on the first floor of Seafolly House and smiled at the sight of the antique copper bath. The faded outside of the bath still needed a lot of work and so did the bathroom itself, with its peeling windows and old floor, but now that the bath had hot running water and was reasonably clean it was doing its job perfectly well. And if there was one thing that Lulu needed after the previous few days and before a job interview, it was a decent soak in a tub.

  She peered into the bath and examined the enamel interior. With a whole lot of elbow grease and a bit of swearing and rubbing of her back, it had come up quite well and though it would at some point need to be properly re-coated, for now, it was good enough to do the job. Good enough for her to get in and rest her bones before being interviewed at the best hotel in the area.

  Lulu turned the faded old hot tap and as it creaked and the pipes cranked from deep within the bellows of the house, hot water came gushing out of the spout and Lulu smiled, rinsed out the bottom, put the plug in, and let it slowly fill up.

  As the tub filled with water, Lulu hung up her wide-leg black trousers, black turtleneck sweater, and blazer and selected a pair of plain sparkly earrings, a wide bangle and slim scarf, and got the whole outfit ready including sky-high nude heels for when she got out of the bath. A base layer of simple well-cut clothes topped with accessories had been her signature look for a very long time. A look that made her feel confident, walk with her head held high, and act appropriately whatever situation she found herself in. She hoped.

  A receptionist’s job at one of the best hotels around was a whole lot more appealing to her than changing beds and cleaning toilets. Not that she was concerned about the housekeeping job at all. As Willow had said, a job is a job and as both of them had always done, she was happy enough to get her head down and get on with it if it meant being self-sufficient. But being on the reception desk in nice clothes felt more like her than keeping everything going behind the scenes.

  Lulu slipped down into the warm water, letting it wash up to her neck and soak away all the manual work. She scrubbed at white paint on her elbows and ankles, brushed dirt from her hands with a scrubbing brush and rubbed her face with a flannel until she felt squeaky clean.

  Half an hour later, Lulu felt less grubby and workman like and more like her old self again. In the wide-legged pants and beautifully cut sweater and with her accessories in place, she looked in the cracked mirror above the mantelpiece, put on some foundation, and pulled her glossy blonde hair into a tight French pleat. Lastly, a heavy smudge of black eyeliner for a smoky eye and masses of mascara and she was done. Lulu Drinkwater didn’t go anywhere or do anything without her eyeliner and hadn’t since she was in her teens, and today, as she put it on, she hoped it would serve her well.

  Twenty or so minutes later, as she strode out of the gate of Seafolly House, Lulu looked up at the cloudy sky hoping that it wouldn’t rain, checked in her bag that she had her favourite floral umbrella, and made her way out of Seafolly Passage and over towards Pretty Beach Old Town and the hotel.

  Once she had arrived in the lobby, Lulu spoke to the exquisitely turned out man behind the reception desk and a few minutes later, Helen, who she had spoken to on the phone, dressed in a pale blue linen shirt, white trousers, and an immaculate low bun, strolled across the lobby and confidently shook Lulu’s hand.

  ‘Lovely to meet you,’ Helen said. ‘I can certainly see the resemblance to your sister.’

  ‘Ahh. Thank you. Lots of people say that.’

  ‘How are you getting on at the house? Willow told me you’ve taken on quite a big job there,’ Helen asked as she led the way away from the lobby.

  ‘Yes, I certainly have. It’s actually going okay. Slow going but fine overall so that’s good. I’ve got a lot to do but I’m pleased with it overall.’

  ‘Excellent. I’d kill to live in Seafolly Passage to be quite honest. I’m up on the hill at the moment on the new estate. Not that I’m complaining, not at all, but my goal is to make my way down to Pretty Beach itself eventually. I’d love a beautiful old house,’ Helen said wistfully as she led Lulu through the hotel and along a labyrinth of corridors until they were at the back of the building. Helen opened a wide thick door to a plushly carpeted office, they went through another inner door, and then into a large office with a huge desk and black framed windows looking out onto a small lush garden area.

  As they walked through another door into an even larger office, Helen smiled and gestured for Lulu to step in and they were greeted by the sight of a woman with grey blonde hair, a white business shirt, and tweed jacket. The woman looked up over the top of gold-rimmed glasses and raised her eyebrows.

  Helen closed the door quietly behind her. ‘Atlanta, this is Lulu Drinkwater. She’s the sister of Willow who works in the cafe. I was telling you about her yesterday.’

  Atlanta ran her eyes up and down Lulu. ‘Yes. Our former hedge-fund manager cafe assistant whose business assets match my own. I can see the resemblance,’ Atlanta said with a tight smile.

  Lulu smiled. ‘Yes. That’s my sister Willow.’

  ‘I still haven’t got my head around why she is working in the cafe,’ Atlanta remarked, looking Lulu up and down she took in Lulu’s appearance. ‘Not that I am complaining in the slightest.’

  ‘Well, early retirement didn’t quite suit her as much as she thought it would.’ Lulu smiled. ‘She was bored out of her brain.’

  ‘She could have bought her own cafe. Own hotel, in fact,’ Atlanta noted.

  ‘I suppose she could have, yes. But I think the whole point of leaving the city was that she would have less stress and responsibilities as it were, however, it didn’t quite go to plan. We’ve both always liked to keep our minds busy and Willow wasn’t really cut out for being in the house all day long.’

  Atlanta gestured for Lulu to sit down and after twenty minutes of Lulu telling them about Seafolly House, her small business Lovely Little Things, and her experience, Atlanta took off her glasses, pushed back her chair came around the desk and held out her hand.

  ‘Lulu. I’d love it if you would have a meeting with our manager regarding the position. I think you’d be a good fit.’

  ‘Oh right. Oh, okay,’ Lulu said blinking rapidly as Atlanta looked down at her and Helen smiled from the other chair.

  ‘Anyone who can attend an interview at short notice like that, accessorise an outfit to what is near perfection, and can hold a conversation is someone I want in my hotel,’ Atlanta replied and with that Lulu and Helen were very clearly dismissed.

  Helen closed the door behind her as they walked out of the office and Lulu looked at her with confusion
.

  ‘Yep. I know. It’s all upside down. Atlanta Cavendish runs a string of top hotels and still meets every single member of potential key staff before they are interviewed by anyone else.’

  ‘Wow. Right. I see. Even part-time receptionists?’

  ‘Especially part-time receptionists. She views the reception job as one of the most important if not the most important in the whole business. Receptionists with us are paid way over the industry average, are loyal, and they stay. Atlanta is a tough businesswoman but if you work hard you’ll be rewarded.’

  ‘Right.’ Lulu nodded, not really sure what to say.

  ‘To be honest, I don’t even know if you’ll get to interview with Mandy the manager. What normally happens is that if Atlanta likes the look of you, you’ll go straight into training, and I can tell after working for Atlanta for eleven years now that she liked the look of you. You don't have any booking system experience, is that right?’

  Lulu swallowed, wondering what she had let herself in for. ‘Correct, I don’t.’

  ‘Don’t worry. It’s easy. If I can get my head around it anyone can.’ Helen smiled.

  Lulu nodded as they walked over to Helen’s desk and she sat down.

  At least things were going up in the world. It seemed as if she might just have a promotion for a job she hadn’t even started yet and that was always a good thing.

  8

  A few days later, Lulu leant up against the jetty down at the very end of the garden with her phone up to her ear.

  ‘Just a moment please,’ the voice said and was then replaced with flowing classical music. Lulu looked far out to sea and then held her face up to the sun as she waited.

  ‘Hello, Lulu. Sorry for the delay. It’s been really busy here this week,’ Helen from the hotel’s calming voice said down the phone and Lulu imagined her with her immaculate hair just so sat at the impeccable desk in the back of the hotel.

  ‘Not a problem at all. Thanks for getting back to me, Helen.’

  ‘Okay, yep, let me just get the calendar up on my iPad. Yes, here we are. Tomorrow around lunchtime or, in actual fact, if you can come in this morning Mandy has some time before she heads up to the other hotel in Pettacombe.’

  Lulu looked at the time and then down at herself. It wasn’t as if she had anything much else on other than stripping mouldy wallpaper from the downstairs bathroom.

  ‘Yes, I can pop in this morning. Absolutely. Thank you.’

  ‘Excellent. Same as before, just ask for me at reception. There will be the three of us. To be honest this is just a formality really to get you to meet Mandy. As I said, obviously Atlanta calls the shots around here.’

  Lulu nodded. It was all well and good Helen telling her that but until she’d started the job she wouldn’t really believe it.

  An hour and a half later, Lulu found herself again in her black wide-leg trousers but this time wore them with a grey silk slash neck top and a stack of beautifully cut bangles, her hair piled on top of her head with a matching hair clip. In pale grey Chanel heels, she walked over to the reception in the lobby of the hotel. It smelled expensive, of high-end candles, floor polish and extravagant flower displays.

  ‘Lulu? Mandy and Helen are expecting you,’ the elegantly turned out woman behind the desk said as Lulu approached.

  ‘Yes.’ Lulu smiled and nodded. ‘Thank you.’

  ‘If you make your way to the cafe and the wingback chairs in the window, there is a table there reserved for you. Mandy and Helen will be with you in a moment.’

  A few minutes later, Helen and another woman who Lulu presumed was Mandy walked through the lobby, into the cafe, and approached the low coffee table and chairs where Lulu was sitting.

  ‘Lulu, lovely to meet you. Mandy Taylor-Brown. I know your sister, Willow, obviously,’ Mandy said with a beaming smile. Mandy sat down opposite Lulu and Lulu noticed her perfect pink manicure and beautifully pressed shirt. Either Lulu was imagining it, or the way the staff were turned out was part of the hotel’s branding.

  ‘So, I presume Helen has filled you in on how we work here? We’re not interested in qualifications or experience. We’re only interested in personality and demeanour. Some say we have a reputation for being unreasonable. However, you will find out that if you’re good and you work hard you’ll be treated well and you won’t want to leave. If it’s the opposite most people don’t last with us more than a week,’ Mandy said and looked at Lulu intently with her huge dark eyes.

  ‘Yes. That’s correct.’ Helen nodded in agreement smoothing down her skirt.

  Mandy continued with her calming voice. ‘I’ve been working for the Cavendish family since I left school. Twenty years now and let’s put it this way, I won’t be leaving anytime soon, and I can tell you I have been head-hunted by the best in the business.’

  Lulu swallowed. ‘Right. Okay. Good to know. Thanks.’

  ‘It’s why Willow is getting on well with us. Not quite your usual cafe waitress, is she? But boy is she good. She can run that place single-handed and it is not an easy job.’

  Lulu blinked and nodded. ‘Yep, she definitely applies herself whatever it is that she does.’

  ‘Exactly. I’ve seen that. So, assuming that it's the same with you, we were thinking of putting you in at the deep end, as it were, right away. If we can work out the timings and it suits you, we’ll get you shadowing one of our receptionists here plus a day or so in Pettacombe at one of the bigger hotels. How does that sound? Are you agreeable to travel to Pettacombe? Obviously, we’ll pay your expenses. The quickest way is to hop on the fast train these days.’

  ‘Yes. That sounds doable. I’m happy to go anywhere, really.’

  ‘The only tricky thing is the software; everything else is just common sense. Our customers are all very high-end boutique hotel users. With rooms starting at well over four hundred pounds a night for the standard, you’re mostly going to be dealing with pleasant guests who have paid for and expect outstanding service.’

  ‘I understand,’ Lulu said, swallowing.

  ‘The only other policy that must be strictly adhered to is personal appearance and we take it extremely seriously. All employees have complimentary beauty services, exercise classes and hairdressing, and a yearly clothing allowance.’

  ‘Yes, I’ve heard this from Willow.’

  ‘Yep. Obviously, you don’t have to use any of it but you must be clean and well presented when you are working under the Cavendish umbrella. It’s all part of the brand.’

  ‘Great, that works for me.’

  Mandy leant forward and smiled. ‘With the way you and Willow are turned out, you obviously won’t need a lot of coaching on the matter,’ Mandy said looking at Lulu’s perfectly knotted scarf and stack of bangles. ‘It seems the apple doesn’t fall from the tree with you two.’

  Lulu smiled back. ‘Thanks, I do try,’ Lulu joked.

  ‘That’s an understatement,’ Mandy said, patting the back of her hair and chuckling to Helen. ‘Looks like we might have to raise our game now we have two of the Drinkwater sisters in situ.’

  Helen smiled back. ‘I think we may well have to. Lulu, welcome to the Cavendish Group.’

  9

  After spending two hours with the vacuum in the kitchen, Lulu showered, changed out of her dusty work clothes, pulled a cream jumper over her head, and stepped into a pair of white chinos.

  Boiling the kettle, she poured hot water into the little tiny two-person flask she’d put in for the long car journey on the way down, wrapped two chocolate biscuits, and made her way out of the house.

  A bike ride, a cup of tea, and a biscuit by the beach. Surely that was better than life in the city with a husband who built his life on deceit?

  Strolling out the front door, she pulled her French market basket from the hooks, put it over her arm, and put a soft cotton scarf around her neck. She might be in the worst, falling down house in Pretty Beach, be the survivor of an awful divorce, but she didn’t have to look the part. Lu
lu was an expert in accessories and never anything but impeccably turned out, even when she was heading out on a bike. Not quite when she was crawling underneath kitchen cupboards and strimming weeds, but most of the time.

  Walking back to the garage she yanked open the old timber doors, wheeled out her bike, attached her basket to the luggage rack at the back, and hopped on.

  As soon as she started to pedal along the road, the Pretty Beach air in her hair, Lulu began to smile as memories of life as a little girl on a bike came flooding back. Memories of a simple, less complicated, easier life. No debts, no Fenton, no cheating and no lies.

  Oh to be twelve years old again. A Marmite sandwich wrapped in clingfilm and a bike ride down to the sea. Where is that girl now?

  Lulu made her way around Pretty Beach, cycling alongside the sand dunes, past the huge hotel she’d be working at in the Old Town, and finally along the laneway. She stopped her bike at the Boat House with her chin nearly to the floor. Willow had told her that it had been renovated but she hadn’t told her it was stunning. Renovated was an understatement. The old building she remembered now made over in white, the little turret at the top had been repointed and stood proudly looking out over the bay. The sun glinted off the water behind the Boat House and a seaplane slowly came into land as Lulu stood with her hand shielding her eyes from the sun.

  And breathe. Life here can only mean things will get better. You have a great new job and lots of opportunities. Life is going well. Don’t look back.

  Lulu put her feet back on the pedals, turned around, and started to potter back down the laneway. She sailed along lost in a world of her own, nostalgia washing over her and memories flooding in at every angle. The laneway was packed with shoppers, White Cottage Flowers was stacked up outside with pots full of greenery, and the fish and chip shop aroma scented the air.

  Just as she was passing the bakery taking in the glorious small-town scene, a car parked on the left opened its door right into Lulu’s pathway. Everything in Lulu’s sight suddenly slowed down. As she watched the car door get inevitably closer and waited to hit it, it was as if she was part of a video where someone had pressed the slow-motion button from above.